The rise of a new generation of high-capacity satellites, particularly using the Ka band spectrum, has impacted not only the satellite industry, but the smaller related sectors as well. The VSAT industry is right in the middle of these various changes. The new satellite systems are more powerful indeed, but technology and new building methods have made it less expensive.
Higher bandwidth capacity no longer means spending millions and millions for the technology. This certainly presents new opportunities to the VSAT market. Soon enough, satellite bandwidth will become a commodity and so it will be up to operators to take advantage of the emerging Ka band technology.
VSAT operators have to be more open to new business strategies. Since ka band will offer flexible payloads and raw capacity, operators should adjust or even transition to a more specialized, focused solutions-based approach. Now the approaches may vary. An operator can gradually incorporate the new Ka band services, or they can improve upon existing strategies - like customer relationship or managed infrastructure - to complement a sudden to Ka band capacity.
Whatever the path, however, the ka band technology is inevitably going to be faced. With limited orbital slots and frequencies, satellite systems should now carry higher-capacity to "make room" in the crowded skies. Of course, there is the problem of having too much capacity which an operator may have no use for, but it's also quite certain that the impact of ka band satellites on the VSAT industry includes new entrepreneurial opportunities.
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